Power play fails Gulls again in home shootout loss to Tucson

Ivan Carter

The San Diego Gulls continue to struggle on the power play and continue to lose hockey games. The latest: a 5-4 shootout loss to Tucson Monday night in front of an announced crowd of 7,521 at Valley View Casino Center.

The game’s deciding score was registered by Tucson’s Chris Mueller, who beat San Diego goalie Dustin Tokarski on the final shootout attempt after all four San Diego and first three Tucson attempts were stopped. Mueller also scored a pair of regulation goals and added an assist. San Diego (11-11-1-1) went 1 of 6 on the power play Monday night and is 1 of 26 in the last six games — all losses.

Tucson opened scoring with just over 11 seconds remaining in the first period when the Gulls failed to clear the puck out of their own zone. Tucson’s Kyle Wood gathered a loose puck near the boards and snapped it into the slot where it deflected off of Conor Garland’s stick and then was shoveled past Tokarski by Michael Bunting, who was credited with the goal.

The Gulls turned the game’s momentum in the second period.

First, Jaycob Megna scored his second goal of the season when a gathered a nice pass from Antoine Laganiere and beat Justin Peters with a wrister he shot from the slot at the 5:52 mark. Just over a minute later, Ryan Garbutt scored his first goal of the season when he blasted a shot from the far boards and watched it slip between Peters’ stick and the left post, making it 2-1 San Diego.

The lead didn’t last long.

At the 7:53 mark of the second, Tucson’s Zbynek Michalek skated over the blue line, took a pass from Chris Mueller and snapped a wrister that beat Tokarski, tying the score 2-2. Then, with Tucson on a power play, Mueller gathered a rebound and beat Tokarski, who appeared to be shielded by a several of bodies, with a blast to his glove side.

That goal made it 3-2 Roadrunners.

San Diego’s Kevin Roy evened the score with a one-timer off a nice pass from Brandon Mountour early in the third period and Montour made it 4-3 San Diego at the 11:25 mark when he took a smooth cross-ice pass from Corey Tropp and blasted a shot past Peters from the above the circle.

After San Diego’s Andy Welinski was called for slashing with just over three minutes to play, Tucson’s Mueller made it 4-4 when he beat Tokarski with a blast from the left wing.

The Gulls, who host rival Ontario tonight at Valley View, got some much-needed added depth back on the roster over the break.

Centers Kyle MacKinnon and Tyler Morley returned to game action Monday night after missing significant time with injuries. MacKinnon, who last played Oct. 26, skated on the third line while Morley, who last played Nov. 4, skated on the fourth line. There’s also a chance that the team could soon see a return of high-energy winger Stefan Noesen, who was called up to play for the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 10, and was recently a healthy scratch for the NHL club.

Carter is a freelance writer.

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The San Diego Gulls begin their second season at Valley View Casino Center against the Tucson Roadrunners Oct. 14

The San Diego Gulls begin their second season at Valley View Casino Center against the Tucson Roadrunners Oct. 14